LOVE AND DEATH

 Tamara Wilson and Simon O'Neill (photo by Curtis Brown for Santa Fe Opera)

We felt quite a bit of envy last night at the Santa Fe Opera's production of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde; we were envious of the bulk of the audience who seemed enthralled and greeted the artists with thunderous applause at the curtain call which took place a hefty 4 3/4 hours after the disturbing opening chord. Sadly, we were not enthralled.

It was not the length that we objected to; we have sat through Wagner's Ring Cycle a number of times and the hours flew by. It may have had something to do with the medieval legend upon which Wagner based his libretto. The influence of Schopenhauer's pessimism made the love story unlovely. We cannot deem the idea of uniting in some fantasied afterlife as a desirable goal for lovers.

As a matter of fact, the situation between the two titular characters had nothing to do with love but rather with obsession. Who was Wagner to write about love! The philandering narcissistic composer disrespected his own wife! The true loves in this opera are that of the forgiving King Marke for his adopted heir, and that of Kurvenal for his friend Tristan.

Since you, dear reader, have probably already read about the prodigious gifts of soprano Tamara Wilson who used her huge instrument effectively and acted convincingly as the captured Irish princess, we would like to begin by noting the performances that captured our flagging attention.

When bass Eric Owens walked onstage in Act II, our tedium dissolved. In contrast with the wooden performance of heldentenor Simon O'Neill, Mr. Owens has stage presence to spare and a commanding voice, offering a sympathetic portrayal of a childless widower who has been pressured into remarrying the resentful Irish princess. The poor guy got a raw deal, getting betrayed by his designated heir Tristan with his designated bride Isolde. This bring us to our contrarian opinion that this is not so much a love story as a story of the consequences of betrayal.  Not only is King Marke betrayed by Tristan but Tristan is betrayed by his jealous friend Melot, well sung by apprentice Eric Taylor who made such a fine showing on Sunday as Siegfried. We are always happy to hear young voices tackling Wagner!

It helped significantly that Mr. Owens was costumed (by Carlos J. Soto) in regal red, quite a standout against the grey and white geometric set, designed by architects Charlap Hyman and Herrero. One could call the architectonic set interesting in its flexible uses but we found it sterile and more suitable to Schopenhauer's philosophy than to a mythic love story. Costuming for Mr. O'Neill was less successful; the armor made him appear to have no neck. The women, however were graced by long flowing gowns.

Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton made a convincing Brangäne and made good use of her rich middle and lower register. The performance we most enjoyed, however, was that of Nicholas Bownlee in the role of Kurvenal. He showed a deep commitment to the role and wanted for nothing in terms of dramatic effectiveness. His voice was the most successful at cutting through Wagner's dense orchestration and showed an interesting timbre. One might, however, wish for a bit more variety in volume. (His recent recital for Performance Santa Fe's Festival of Song revealed just how deep his artistry runs.)

Speaking of Wagner's orchestration, we are quite aware of the novelty of his harmonic structure and the way he avoided any kind of harmonic resolution until the very end, creating a sense of unease throughout the entire work. What we liked best were the quotations from his Wesendonck Lieder. The rising four note scale passage from "Im Treibhaus"  reveals how a simple four note rising scale passage can produce substantial emotional involvement.

The conducting of Maestro James Gaffigan was excellent and went a long way toward illuminating Wagner's dense orchestration. We were particularly taken with the lengthy searching solos for English horn and bass clarinet, an instrument we don't get to hear as often as we would wish.

It is always a thrill to hear apprentices onstage, making an impact in smaller roles. Tenor Jonah Hoskins sounded great in the role of a sailor, singing a song that Isolde takes as insulting. Tenor Dylan M. Davis appeared as a shepherd responsible for playing  a tune when Isolde's ship arrives to heal the dying Tristan. Baritone Erik Grendahl sang the role of the Steersman.

Although this particular production of this particular opera did not resonate with us, we admire Santa Fe Opera for tackling it and for bringing so much satisfaction to so many opera lovers. How gratifying that very few people left early. Although not overwhelmed we were left with some satisfying memories of King Marke and Kurvenal, the afore-mentioned woodwind solos, the play of John Torres' lighting on the set, and the formidable voices of Ms. Wilson and Ms. Barton.

Although we were not inspired to read more of Schopenhauer's philosophy, we were moved to think upon the heavy cost of betrayal. We did wonder how Wagner felt about his own bad behavior, betraying his wife and betraying his patrons by seducing their wives.

(c) meche kroop

 

FINAL SANTA FE APPRENTICE SCENES

 Justin Burgess, Vanessa Croome, Caroline Corrales, Daniel O'Hearn, and Joseph Parrish

It seems as if the eight scenes chosen to present to the public by the Santa Fe Apprentice Program are of twè kinds. One type demonstrates the ability of the young artists to work together as an ensemble; the other variety seems to highlight the particular talents of a pair or trio. 

Let us begin with the scene from Verdi's La Traviata in which the ailing courtesan Violetta is confronted by her young lover's irate father. Père Germont has come to persuade her to give up his son in order to get his virtuous daughter married off. He demands, cajoles, and manipulates. His arrogant mien softens when he realizes her humanity and dignity. Teresa Perrotta impressed us with a sizable soprano, lovely legato line, and accurate phrasing. Baritone Darren Lekeith Drone made an excellent Giorgio Germont, not only singing with intention but successfully converting our initial anger at his character for insulting our favorite operatic heroine to a feeling of sympathy for his bourgeois predicament. The scene was well directed by Crystal Manich.

Another duet  that impressed us was from Robert Ward's The Crucible. We generally find fault with contemporary opera in English for its lack of melodic interest; however, Maire Therese Carmack's performance as Elizabeth Proctor and baritone Erik Grendahl's as her husband John carried us fully into the story. The singing was superb but what we most appreciated was the completely comprehensible diction --something we never take for granted. James Robinson's direction made the relationship between husband and wife very clear. His prior adultery has left him vulnerable and his wife even more so as the community is involved in the Salem witch trials. This will not end well!

It is always a pleasure to hear young voices tackle Wagner and two tenors, singing in fine German, made much of the scene from Siegfried in which the eponymous hero confronts the dwarf who has raised him. If one didn't know the backstory one would blame the ungrateful Sigfried (sung by Eric Taylor) and feel sorry for the hard-working Mime (sung by Thomas Cilluffo) who can never satisfy his ward. Siegfried is, indeed, a dolt who "enters pursued by a bear" (oops, sorry about that, he was wearing the skin of a bear he slaughtered) and heaps abuse upon the dwarf who has raised him.  But we, the audience, know that Mime is pure evil and only wants Siegfried's treasure. This is serious business but it was clear that the pair of singers relished their roles and threw themselves into the scene, which was well directed by Ken Cazan.

The ensemble scenes offered a wide range of styles. Our favorite was the scene from Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier in which the Marschallin, sung with beautiful tone and great dignity by soprano Murrella Parton, acknowledges the reality of her young lover Octavian (a most convincing Kathleen Felty in this mezzo-soprano breeches role) about to begin a romance with young Sophie (charmingly sung by Emilie Kealani). This is one of our favorite operas and we loved the way it was sung and directed. Kathleen Clawson directed the three singers to stand far apart as they each expressed different emotions. But after the Marschallin left the scene, the lovers were brought together in intimate joy.

The scene from johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus was an audience favorite, a comic operetta directed by Ms. Clawson as a farce.  Gabriel von Eisenstein (baritone Justin Burgess) is delaying his departure to serve a jail sentence in order to attend a party. The maid Adele (soprano Vanessa Croome) uses an excuse to attend the same event. Gabriel's wife Rosalinda (soprano Caroline Corrales) is entertaining a former lover, opera star Alfred (tenor Daniel O'Hearn). When jailer Frank (bass-baritone Joseph Parrish) arrives to take von Eisenstein to jail, Rosalinda, for the sake of propriety, must pretend that Alfred is her husband. We suppose that the work was sung in English because of the plot complexity but we find it funnier in German. We found it a bit over directed with an excess of shtick and physical comedy.There is enough comedy in the plot! Suddenly this season we are seeing a lot of Broadway type dancing that went out of fashion decades ago.  We can't help thinking of the can-can.

Rossini's Armida began with a touching love scene between the beautiful sorceress Armida (soprano Avery Boettcher) and the lapsed warrior Rinaldo (tenor Jonah Hoskins). The melodic vocal lines gave them an opportunity to show their stuff. But then, two men in army fatigues entered threatening our hero with pistols in one hand and what might be bibles in the other hand, laying a guilt trip on him for abandoning his war hero status. We felt sorry for tenors Philippe L'Esperance and Kameron Lopreore (as Carlo and Ubaldo) whose gifts we thought were wasted, with strange gestures distracting from their singing. Perhaps director Mr. Cazan wanted us to think of the conflict in the Middle East, but it did not work.

We thought the scene selected from Mozart's Don Giovanni was not the best choice.  We are not sure why operas are recently getting tricked out with an excess of "stage business" which distracts from the singing. It seem as if an attempt was made to get as many singers onstage as possible and to give them as much to do as possible. Bass Allen Michael Jones made a believable Leporello and, to the extent that we could sort out what was going on, sang the role well. But why was Elvira (portrayed by Ms. Corrales) wearing a nun's habit when she is claiming to be DG's wife? Tenor Dylan Davis and soprano Caitlin Aloia portrayed Don Ottavio and Donna Anna, while Zerlina and Massetto were sung by Ms. Kealani and Jongwon Han. There was just too much going on to appreciate the singing.

And finally, we thought the very brief scene from Massenet's Cendrillon was also over directed by Mr. Robinson. Madame de la Haltiere was finely sung by contralto Megan Esther Grey but the severely overdone contortions of her two daughters was distracting. Noémie was performed by Amber Norelai and Dorothée, by mezzo-soprano Gloria Palermo.

In sum, it was a great evening, filled with delights and revelations. It is alway a pleasure to hear the stars of tomorrow at the relatively early stage of their careers.

© meche kroop